TSMC to chop chip output

Demand is sliding

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Taiwan Semiconductor (TSMC) is chopping chip production in Q1 of 2001 due to slowing demand.

Bloomberg quotes TSMC spokeswoman Kuo Shan-shan saying: "Production will not be 100 per cent for the quarter. The first quarter outlook is not promising."

Kuo added that 2000 had been a year of record earnings and factories running at full capacity.

Meanwhile Hyundai, in its role as memory chip maker, has had its shares drop to an all time low, because the market is worried it can't repay $5.2 billion won ($4.3 million) debt.

Bloomberg also reports that the shares have fallen 34 per cent in the week, and one of the reasons everyone is worried is that the spot price for its main product, a 64Mb Dram, has fallen to $3.05 from almost $9 in July. The company hasn't made an annual profit since 1996. ®